


Dragon Drabbles

by suluismyspirit



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Dragon AU, Dragons, Drama, Fluff, Random & Short, Shapeshifting, art is included
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-21
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2019-03-22 04:31:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13756368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suluismyspirit/pseuds/suluismyspirit
Summary: Just random things I wrote for funsies.





	1. New Family Member

Sulu sat cross legged, staring at the egg. No one knew where exactly it came from, it had just been found in some wreckage of a shuttle a few months ago. But it had the symbol for the Fleet on it, which really meant only one thing to Sulu. He was gonna have a new brother or sister soon. If the stupid egg would hurry up and hatch already.

Sulu wasn’t sure why all dragon shifters were sent here, to the Enterprise. McCoy called it prejudice, but Kirk called it good luck. He didn’t speak with Spock or Uhura enough to know their views on it, but Sulu thought it was fantastic. Basically it was a free ticket to space and choice of any career he wanted, and he’d already decided he wanted to fly. He loved the openness of space, the freedom to just fly where ever. The never ending adventure that was new worlds and new people.

That was probably why McCoy was so gruff about it though, the space part. The man was next in line to be CMO here on the ship but he never seemed thrilled with the fact that Star Fleet operated in space. Kirk always treated those complaints as an inside joke and, since Kirk and McCoy had been friends since before Hikaru had even hatched, Sulu didn’t worry too much about it. McCoy was hopefully happy enough here, so it was alright.

None of that was to say that everyone on the enterprise was a shifter. In fact, the majority of the crew were normal humans and other non shifter alien races. They all worked well enough together, it was true, but on their off hours they didn’t mingle much, with the exception of a few like Captain Pike. Something about how the human subconscious tended to try and avoid those that could turn into dangerous predatory creatures. All in all, it left Sulu wanting someone more his age and speed to hang out and play with. Not that Kirk wasn’t fun, but he was training to be captain and it was a bit too serious for Hikaru when he was feeling frisky. He didn’t even bother trying to hang out with McCoy, the gruff doctor had no patience for Hikaru’s antics.

Sulu glanced around, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. He knew he wasn’t supposed to shift to his dragon form on the ship. But really, that was mostly because of the issue of size and space. But his form was small enough, he was only six after all, so he didn’t see the harm. And maybe whoever it was in the egg wouldn’t feel so shy if he was in the same shifted form. So long as he was careful and didn’t breathe any fire anywhere, no one would know.

Making sure the coast was clear, Hikaru shifted quickly, curling closer to the egg and watching it intently, hoping to see it wiggle some, maybe sprout a few more cracks to signify it was hatching. He sighed, a little disappointed when it did none of those things. He tilted his head slightly, looking at the gold, red, and black colors.

It was odd to think that this little guy wouldn’t have a family except for them here on the Enterprise. Sulu moved forward, carefully curling around the egg. He felt sorry for it. Sure it was hard not being with his parents, but he was always thrilled to see them when the ship stopped back home at earth every once in a while. This little guy wouldn’t have that. Hikaru lay his head next to the egg, whiskers brushing it gently. He’d just have to be the extra family, and he was positive his own parents would be more than happy to welcome a new friend.

He blinked slowly, purring low in his belly. He’d watch out for this kid, be like his big brother, show him the ropes. And when they were all grown up, they could both be on the bridge, working side by side. Still purring softly, Hikaru was asleep in no time, not noticing the chips and cracks growing on the egg he lay curled around.


	2. Playtime

“Come on Pav.” Sulu cheered, the teen running ahead of the small group and waving towards his best friend.

Chekov scrambled after him as quickly as he could. Sulu had a head start and longer legs, but he was determined to keep up with him.

McCoy and Kirk just looked at each other, rolling their eyes at the two energetic youths. It had been a while since any of them had gotten shore leave, so neither blamed the two. They took this opportunity to shift into their dragon forms, stretching their wings and enjoying the freedom. Sulu might still be able to get away with shifting on the ship, though now he was really pushing it, but both of them were far too large to even begin to do so.

Neither felt any concern when the two younger ones vanished into the trees. Young they might be, but it wouldn’t take them long to shift and there was little out in nature that would pose any threat to a dragon. Especially either of those.

~~

Sulu snarled playfully, dancing back somewhat. Pavel pounced forward, rolling him over and the two tumbled across the ground. It had taken a bit of convincing, but Hikaru had finally coaxed Chekov into a wrestling match. He’d roughhoused with Chekov on the ship when Pav was younger, often times ending up with more than a few bruises. As soon as Chekov realized, he’d stopped. But Hikaru figred it’s be more even of a match now, not to mention that since he was bigger now, he might actually be able to win.

Sulu thrashed around, not really trying too hard to throw Chekov off just yet, though even if he had it would have been difficult. The Russian was built like a tank and he was feeling every pound of it being underneath him. He growled in complaint, twisting his long body around in a real attempt to get away.

Hikaru wasn’t sure exactly what happened next, one moment he was near slipping away and standing up, then Pavel pounced. There was a sharp, white hot pain in his arm, and he reacted without though, shrieking out a pained cry that turned quickly into a snarl, turning and snapping at the source of the pain, body twisting to throw the weight off of him. He limped back, orange glowing between his jaws as he spat out a flare of fire in warning.

He curled around himself, hiding his injured arm, lip lifted in a low hissing snarl as he glared. He was reacting purely on instinct, snarling and defensive due to the pain. It hurt. The shock and white hot pain drove any thought from his mind. He just wanted it to stop and for whatever had hurt him to back off.

~~

McCoy and Kirk both sat up at the sound of a pained screech followed by a sharp snarl and a yelp. They glanced at each other in worry at the silence that followed, getting up and hurrying in the direction the two had gone. It wasn’t hard to find them, not with the smell of burnt grass to guide them. McCoy narrowed his eyes at the scene that met them, Sulu curled up tightly with his fangs bared toward Chekov, a strip of scorched earth separating them. Chekov was crouched down low, head down, twin tails curled under him as he watched Sulu.

McCoy moved forward slowly, looking around the clearing to ascertain that they were really alone. He saw nothing, could smell no others in the area, not shifters, people, or even wildlife. Knowing Kirk would be on the lookout no matter what, McCoy turned his attention to Hikaru.

There was a dull glow in Sulu’s eyes that told McCoy that the Asian wasn’t exactly with them in the present right now, a shimmer in the air around his jaws suggesting flames hiding within. Kirk must have seen the same thing, because he moved to put himself between Hikaru and Chekov, garnering a snarl and a hiss from the gold dragon.

Satisfied that he wasn’t in any danger of being burned by their one and only fire breathing crew member, McCoy shifted forms, walking toward Chekov once he was on two legs. If he could get the Russian to calm down enough to shift back and talk to him, they could get started working out what had happened.

“You all right Chekov?” McCoy asked approaching Chekov slowly, eyes appraising. He didn’t look injured, there was no blood or sign he’d caught any of the flames. The Russian seemed clear headed enough when he turned to look at McCoy, so the doctor closed the last few feet of distance quickly and easily. “Think you can shift back, tell me what happened?”

McCoy waited patiently while Chekov looked at him. Sometimes with the young shifters, stress made it more difficult to control the instincts of their dragon form. It took a few deep breaths, but eventually Chekov nodded slowly, form shifting until he turned wide worried eyes on McCoy. He stood up, shifting his weight nervously. “I’m fine doctor, but Sulu’s hurt. He-“

McCoy held up a hand, cutting him off. He knew that if he let Chekov keep going, he’d get a lot of words but not much useful information. “Sulu needs a minute to settle down. I ain’t about to get burnt to a crisp before I can help him. So just tell me what happens, he’ll be alright.”

Chekov nodded, taking a steadying breath and calming at the authoritative tone McCoy had. Kirk and McCoy were here, Sulu would be okay. He explained what had happened quickly, looking down at the ground guiltily when he got to the part where Sulu had gotten hurt. He hadn’t meant to hurt his friend, hadn’t realized how rough he’d been.

“Alright, don’t worry. I’ll get Mister Sulu sorted out.” He reassured Chekov, knowing now wasn’t the time to go into a lecture about being careful. He’d deal with that after making sure it wasn’t too serious. He glanced over at where Kirk was blocking his view of Sulu, noting that the angry snarl had vanished. He cast one more glance over Chekov to make sure he was alright, then turned and made his way around Kirk.

Hikaru was still curled up around himself, though he looked far less angry and feral than he had mere moments before. McCoy still took it slow approaching, the gold dragon’s eyes snapping over to him at the motion. Leonard kept an eye on his tail as it twitched restlessly, knowing it could be just as much a weapon as Sulu’s teeth, claws, and fire. Sulu’s tongue flicked out, tasting the air as he glanced at Kirk before turning his wary gaze to McCoy.

“Easy Sulu. I know you know me. So don’t you bite me.” McCoy warned as he came within arms reach of the Asian. Hikaru snorted lightly at the comment, some of the tension bleeding out of him. He moved his head over, letting McCoy rest a hand on his cheek when the doctor stretched his hand out. McCoy could still feel the heat from Sulu’s fire, moving his hand to scratch absently under his chin.   
Hikaru purred slightly at the scratches, uncurling himself a moment later at McCoy’s pointed look. He lay his head down on the ground when McCoy pulled away, letting out a low, nervous growl when McCoy moved towards his arm. He quieted quickly when Kirk moved over with a warning growl of his own, attention turning to the much larger dragon as Kirk came to stand beside him.

“He’s fine.” McCoy assured Kirk with a little wave, inspecting the injured limb. Sulu was aware enough now that, so long as he didn’t do anything too sudden, McCoy was certain he was in no danger. Sulu looked up at Kirk, stretching his neck up and flicking his tongue out teasingly at Jim, nearly licking his snout.

Jim snorted, shifting forms and patting Sulu’s head. “You got this, then I’ll go check on Pavel.”

McCoy nodded, waving a hand at him again. He tossed a warning glance at Sulu, in case the kid had any bright ideas about shifting since everyone else had. “Don’t change back just yet, I don’t need you doing any more damage to your arm.” He reached out to test the arm carefully, running a hand along the golden scales. After a moment, he pulled back. “Doesn’t feel like a clean break, probably just a fracture. So, you should be okay to shift back. Carefully.”

McCoy stepped back to give Hikaru space as Sulu moved to get his feet under him. Hikaru shifted carefully, doing his best not to hurt his arm further. He looked up at McCoy when he finished. He stood up from where he’d been on his knees, arm still held close to his body. “Sorry, doc.” He apologize for the growling and fire from before, giving McCoy a slight smile.

“It’s fine. Come on, let’s get you back to the ship and get that arm fixed. We can have a _chat_ about the two of you being more careful after that.”

Hikaru grinned over at Chekov when he walked over with Kirk. The kid looked pale and guilty, opening his mouth to issue what was most likely an apology, but Sulu cut him off. “Hey, no worries Pav. I’m fine. I didn’t get ya with my fire, did I?”

Chekov shook his head, glancing at the scorched ground then back to Sulu. “No, you didn’t, I’m fine, but Karu, I-“

“Don’t worry bout it, McCoy’ll fix it up in no time.” Sulu reassure him, smiling crookely, trying to make him feel better.

McCoy stopped from where’d he’d begun leading them back to the transport site, turning to scowl over at them, shooting a glare at Kirk when he laughed. “Don’t think that this means you can just run around getting into trouble and expecting me to fix ya when ya break something.” He barked, scowl deepening when they all just laughed again.


	3. Naughty

“Come on, Karu. _Please?_ ” Pavel pleaded.

The young Russian was sitting cross-legged on the floor, giving Hikaru his widest, most pleading expression. The older boy lay lounging atop a crate of some sort of equipment, neither of them knew exactly what it was, only that it wasn’t marked with the sign for dangerous.

The two of them had been running around the ship playing, likely causing more than one of the non-shifters to have a reason to file a complaint to the captain. Chekov had only hatched about a month ago, and had yet to completely gain control over his shifting. More often than not, he was in his dragon form, Hikaru always following suite despite the stern looks he received from the older shifters.

Their game of chase had led them here, a nearly empty storage room for engineering components. After having wrestled themselves into exhaustion, Sulu being the one who was tired and sore more than Pavel, they had sat around talking and telling stories.

Somehow, they’d gotten upon the topic of fire, and how Hikaru had the ability to breath fire in his dragon form.

Hikaru sat up, sitting cross-legged as well as he looked down at his friend. “I told you Pav, I’m not s’posed to. Not on the ship.”

“Yeah, but that’s what you said bout playing in our other form, and bout sneaking up on Ensign Jen, and bout making Lt. Joe drop stuff in the lift, and bout-” Pavel listed, shuffling closer to Sulu.

“Okay, fine. But you have to shift too.” Sulu interrupted, hopping down from his perch. He knew Chekov would list every single mischievous thing he’d done, and still did, if he didn’t stop him. “I dunno if you’re fireproof or not, but you definitely aren’t in that form.”

Hikaru waited until Pavel had nodded agreement and changed, then shifted as well. Pavel was slightly smaller in size than Sulu but was far sturdier. The Russian sat back on his haunches, three spiked tails waving in eager excitement.

Sulu moved a few steps away from Chekov, hissing lowly in warning when the younger dragon tried to follow him. Tail twitching in nervous energy, Hikaru drew in a slow breath. He was still very young, and had not had much practice in fire breathing, but the ability was as easy as breathing. It was instinctual, something he’d been able to do since the day he’d hatched. He could feel the warmth in his belly, traveling up his throat and pooling behind his teeth. He let out a low hissing growl, spitting the flames out at an empty section of the room.

Chekov was hopping from foot to foot, chirping in excitement. Hikaru couldn’t help but feel a bit proud, show off a little bit. After a few moments, however, there was a sharp, shrieking alarm, startling both of the young dragons. Hikaru snapped his jaws shut, but it was far too late.

The door to the room shut and both of them jumped and snarled as a white steamy foam came pouring from the ceiling. Fire suppressant, Hikaru realized. He supposed he should be glad it wasn’t water. He hated getting wet. He was a fire breather, he didn’t _do_ water. It sucked.

Fire suppressant wasn’t any walk in the park either, especially with Chekov thrashing around in a panic. Before long the alarm went silent, the white foam evaporating into nothing, and Sulu was able to herd Chekov toward the door. By the time they got outside the room, Chekov had come back to himself, tails dragging along behind him as the door closed behind them.

Waiting for them in the corridor was a very unhappy looking Jim Kirk.

Hikaru ducked his head, knowing immediately that this was not going to be one of those times that Kirk just brushed off the mischief they’d gotten into. Jim looked real mad, and Hikaru was not looking forward to the multiple lectures he was sure to get. If Jim was this mad, McCoy was gonna be furious and Pike was gonna be disappointed…

He scratched at where the foam had made his scales itch, blinking up at Kirk in an attempt to look sorry at all. Chekov, the little traitor, was trying to crawl underneath him.

Kirk let out a long sigh, shaking his head at he gold dragon. “You know better, what were you thinking?”

Sulu dropped his gaze, letting out an apologetic little chirp, scratching at the back of his neck. He did know better, that was true, but it had been _forever_ since they’d run across a planet suitable for shore leave. At least two months cooped up here in this ship, and Chekov had never seen him do it before… How could he have refused?

Sounded like a wonderful explanation to Hikaru. Now, just how to convince the adults…?

Kirk frowned at the way Sulu was scratching, letting out another sigh and running a hand through his hair. “We’re gonna have a talk about this, but don’t shift back right now. Looks like you’re allergic to whatever compound is in the flame suppressant. Figures.”

Sulu tilted his head, not entirely sure what Kirk meant about that, but obediently stayed in his dragon form. He was perfectly fine with that if it meant delaying the upcoming lecture. He let out an indignant little squawk as Kirk reached down and picked him up.

“Don’t give me that. I’m not about to risk you slipping off somewhere.” Jim scolded, snatching up Chekov a moment later. “And you’re just as bad. C’mon. Both of you are gonna go see McCoy, then Pike wants to have a word with you too.”

Sulu gave an unhappy growl, shifting around to wrap himself around Kirk’s shoulders. It was more comfortable, he was light enough that Kirk wasn’t bothered by the weight, and Jim would need both hands to more easily carry Chekov’s sturdy form.

Hikaru listed to Kirk’s scolding the entire way to sickbay, feeling a little guilty all the while. He really felt the regret for the while incident when they walked into sickbay and McCoy was waiting for them with an exceptionally annoyed scowl. For a moment, Hikaru tried to hide himself behind Kirk, but the soon to be captain was already putting Chekov down and was quick to do the same to Sulu.

“I think he’s had some sort of reaction to the fire suppressant.” Kirk said to McCoy, which confirmed to Sulu that the doctor was completely up to date with what Pav and he had been up to. Jim nudged Sulu forward to McCoy. “So, I told em not to shift til you had a chance to look em over.”

McCoy nodded his approval to that before turned his attention to Hikaru.

“How many times have you been told _not_ to breath fire on the ship? Do you _want_ to die in space? ‘Cause that’s what’ll happen if you melt an exterior wall, damage the circuits so the emergency shield doesn’t activate, and they you’ll get sucked out into space.” McCoy grouched as he worked, picking Sulu up and depositing him on a biobed. A few scans later, and a quick run over with the dermal regenerator, and McCoy stepped back. “Your fine now, just a minor skin irritant.”

Hikaru shifted to his human form, letting his legs dangle off the side of the bed and watched as McCoy hefted Chekov up beside him and began the same process. He didn’t get a chance to begin to explain himself before Pike walked into the medbay. Hikaru let out a dejected sigh. With all three of them there, it would be impossible for him to convince any of them to accept his little excuses. Instead he resigned himself to an impressive number of long lectures and likely being grounded and not allowed on the bridge or near the shuttles for a very long time.


	4. Wake Up

It was dark and cramped and he felt like he’d been sleeping forever.

He grumbled, stretching out his back legs only to be met by a smooth surface blocking further movement. He flexed his little claws, kicking at it with his back legs. The resulting cracking sound was so satisfying that he repeated the motion. His foot broke through, and that was so startling he tucked in on himself, staying still for a moment.

With some effort, he wriggled himself around in his tiny little confounds, until he could peek out of the hole he’d made.

A wall of gold, steadily shifting up and down, met his eyes. Huh. That was a strange thing to see for the first time.

Curious about what it was he was looking at, and wanting to get out of this dark shell, the little dragon clawed at the opening. The egg crumbled easily under his paws, a bit too easily. After a couple of scratches, the structure of the egg all but collapsed, sending the little dragon sprawling flat on his belly.

He sat up, blinking as he looked around at the odd room he was in. It looked real weird, but it felt safe. He crouched down to sniff at the crumbles of his shell, amused by the bright color. The gold on the eggshell looked a whole lot like the gold on the sleeping dragonling beside him, so he wondered if they were brothers.

He glanced between them a couple times, then to the mark on his haunches, the matching one on the gold kit, and the piece of the symbol he could see on the egg. Yes. Yes, they were definitely brothers. He liked the sound of that.

The newly hatched dragon gave a little warble, crawling all over the golden one to wake him up. He’d been sleeping for forever, he wanted to meet his new brother!


	5. Unrest (Part 1/2)

Hikaru glared, silently daring the handful of crewman to make a comment toward himself and Pav. There were four of them, whispering among themselves as they walked down the hall. They all paused, two of them flushing red and the other two turning a pasty white when they realized they were being overheard. All four of them gave the two shifters a wide berth in the corridor.

“Why’s everyone been acting so weird lately?” Pavel asked, eyes watching the backs of the retreating crew. Pavel was six now, old enough to notice the sudden difference in how he was being regarded, but hadn’t quite put together the reasoning.

Hikaru pressed his lips together tightly, contemplating how to explain it to his friend without scaring him. Honestly, the whole situation scared _him_ , so how he was going to keep Pavel from getting scared he had no idea.

It had started a week ago, after some of the crew (all non shifters) had come back from a mission to an uninhabited planet. They’d gone down to do some research on the developing planet, to see if it was a good match for some interested colonists.

Initially, it had all been good news, but soon after those from the away mission became… sick. The first signs were a mild fever, agitation, and a short temper. Nothing too alarming or out of the ordinary for someone who was not feeling well. Except that within days of showing a fever the infected person became inexplicably violent towards the slightest provocation. So far, three of the first affected were in a feverish near-coma while the other affected were still awake and raging, locked in the brig for safety.

Thankfully, whatever it was, virus or otherwise, didn’t spread quickly. But it _did_ spread, and neither McCoy nor the other doctors had yet to find a way to detect or stop the sickness. Beyond the fever and irritability, there were no symptoms to warn anyone.

And now, so far as Hikaru could tell, the fever was the only clue, because now all the crew were irritable. Especially towards the dragon shifters. He understood why, especially after Kirk explained it. The other crew were always a little wary of them, but that was easily turned to outright fear and mistrust when they considered how a dragon might react to whatever sickness was going around.

A human might cause broken bones and bruises, death was an unlikely extreme. With a dragon, it was all but guaranteed.

This all meant that the glares and whispers of the nonshifter crew made Hikaru nervous. As the tension increased, he had to fight the instinct to shift into his dragon form when the glances and murmurs became too heated. His instincts demanded it was safer, less vulnerable than this softer human shape, especially when confronted with multiple angry adult humans.

Hikaru knew better.

Shifting would only antagonize them further. It would also, in a way, leave him even more vulnerable. He was older now, his dragon form larger. Too large to fit easily into the corridors of a ship. But still a part of him longed to transform, to have teeth and claws and fire to defend himself and his young friend from the distrust and anger in the human’s eyes.

“Karu?”

Sulu shook his head slightly, turning his attention back to Pav and the question the young Russian had asked. “They’re just scared.” He explained, trying to be truthful but not frighten Pavel. “People have been getting sick, but instead of making them tired and stuff, they just get real mad. It’s why Jess and Taylor got in that fight a couple days ago. You remember that, right?”

“Yeah. They were best friends, bestest almost like us, but they hurt each other a lot and both of them are still in the medical bay. That was cause they were sick?”

“Yeah.” Hikaru confirmed, letting out a little sigh. McCoy and Kirk had explained it all too him because he was older. At thirteen he was nearly old enough to start his Starfleet training after all. It would be better for Pavel to know, at least a little bit, to help keep him safe and out of trouble until McCoy could figure out a cure and stuff.

“But not everyone is sick, are they? Is that why everyone but Pike doesn’t like us anymore?” Chekov asked, interrupting Sulu’s thoughts.

Hikaru sighed again, glancing down the corridor before kneeling down and motioning for Pavel to get on his back. The whispers coming from that end of the hall were getting louder, and Hikaru was sure there were more people down there, and none of them very pleased with the two dragon’s presence.

Chekov was happy to oblige, wrapping his arms carefully around Sulu’s neck when the teen hoisted him up and started walking.

“Everyone is really worried cuz of how much stronger we are when we shift forms. You’re the tiniest and even you’d scare them if you got sick with this thing.” Hikaru explained, holding onto Chekov and starting down the corridor.

Chekov studied the floor for a long moment, biting his lip, then asked Sulu. “Is that why Pike said I shouldn’t change forms, no matter how much I feel like I want to for any reason?”

Hikaru nodded seriously. “Captain Pike had a talk with me saying the same. Even Kirk and McCoy talked to me too, said not to do any pranks for a while. Least til this whole thing has been worked out.”

Chekov hummed in contemplation, hugging Sulu a little tighter for a moment. “But what-“

The question was cut short when Hikaru rounded the corner, nearly colliding with a large security officer who coming from the opposite direction.

“Watch it!” The man snarled, hand swiping out to shove Hikaru away from. His two friends tensed, hands shifting to the phasers they carried.

Sulu stumbled back, the combination of the push and Chekov’s weight nearly causing him to lose his balance. Almost immediately, Pavel dropped down to the floor, reaching out to help his friend regain his balance.

“You think it’s funny jumping out like that? This is no time for pranks you little brat!” The man scowled, taking an aggressive step forward.

“We weren’t doing a prank, we were just-“ Chekov tried to defend them, but was quickly cut off.

“Not a prank? Then what the hell do you call pouncing out around corners, scaring people for no reason?!” The officer stepped closer, hands curling into fists.

Pavel shrank back into himself, mouth opened to say something though no words came out.

Hikaru glared at the three men spread out infront of him, a low growl, not quite human, rumbling in his throat in warning. He shifted to block Chekov completely from their sight. This wasn’t going in a good direction. Worse, he couldn’t tell if they were sick or just the normal jumpiness that had been among the humans on the ship. There was nothing to give him a clue if they were going to jump them any second or just let them skirt by with a few glares and harsh words.

Hikaru worried what would happen to Pavel if it came to a fight. The younger dragon was small enough to shift, and that would help him defend himself, but he still wouldn’t be able to hold his own for long against these three. Karu knew better than to hope Pav would run while he distracted them.

“Is there a problem here, gentlemen?”

Hikaru had never been so glad so see Pike walking toward him, stern expression on his face.

There was a long pregnant pause before the large security officer took a marginal step back. “No sir.” He answered, visibly releasing the tension in his muscles as he glanced at his two friends. “We’re just headed to our posts, Captain.”

Captain Pike gave them a flat look, neutrally polite, and nodded his head. “I won’t keep you then.” He intoned, moving smoothly over to stand by Sulu and Chekov, eyes never leaving the other three. His disapproval was near palpable, and the quickly took their leave.

Hikaru let out a breath he hadn’t been aware he was holding, turning to look up into the reassuring smile of Pike.

“Been looking for you two, glad I found you. Come on.” The captain nodded his head to indicate the direction and paused long enough for Chekov to take Sulu’s hand.

Hikaru frowned slightly, though he unworriedly followed after Pike. “You were looking for us, sir?”

“Don’t worry, son, you’re not in trouble. I know you’ve been on your best behavior. The both of you have behaved admirably during this whole situation.” Pike assured them, turning a quick smile that faded quickly. “Gonna be honest with you, this situation hasn’t gotten any better. We’ve got some assistance coming, but until it arrives I think the two of you are better off sticking close to McCoy.”

Chekov gave a little squeak of worry, pressing closer to Hikaru’s side as they walked.

“With McCoy?” Hikaru questioned, not understanding.

“Even with everything that’s happened, or maybe especially because, even the most unhappy of the crew still respect him.” Pike stated, corner of his mouth turning down in slight frown.

Sulu nodded. That made sense. Everyone was nervous about people getting sick. McCoy was a doctor, so they wouldn’t do anything to him. Besides that, everyone had a healthy respect for they hypos the doctor knew how to use. Stood to reason that was where Pike thought was the safest.

“Kirk and Spock are busy helping me, Scotty’s almost a one man show in engineering right now thanks to some of his best people being down.” Pike continued. “And I’m having Uhura work from sickbay for the time. It’s just safer if none of you are on your own. So under no circumstances are either of you to wander off on your own. Or together. You’re to stay with Lt Uhura or Doctor McCoy, understand?”

Both Hikaru and Chekov nodded in agreement. They knew he was serious, his tone said as much. Given how seriously he was talking about this situation, how much he was telling them, they both knew it was getting dangerous.

Neither Pavel or Hikaru were surprised to find Pike leading them toward the medical bay, McCoy was hardly anywhere else. Pike paused when the doors opened, head turning in the direction of raised voices down the hall in a different direction. “You two go find Doctor McCoy and stay with him. I’ll be back with good news soon, I hope.” Pike ordered distractedly, already turning to head off what looked like yet another explosive argument.

Hikaru watched him for a moment, then looked down at Pavel. The younger boy was looking up at him with a worried expression, hand still clutching tightly to his own. Sulu straightened up, putting on what he hoped was a confident expression before leading the way into sickbay in search of McCoy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since I've written anything. Stress of life and such. But, here we are and thank you for reading this!! Little self conscious bout this drabble, cuz it's been so long since I wrote a thing. And, sadly, there is no art for this at the moment... But! I'm working on part 2, so yay. Comments always speed the process because the make me so happy! And happier me equals more writing!


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